Cows take to the waves as new invention carries them to Mexico

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10/2/2003

The
U.S. ban on trucks carrying Canadian cattle has stopped bovine border
crossings between the two nations. But thanks to the ingenuity of
one Canadian, it hasn’t stopped cows from the Great White North
from heading South of the Border.

Canadian
inventor Larry Jewett has created the “cowtainer,” a shipping transport
container that he says will allow live cattle to travel by ship
from Canada to Mexico without using U.S. roads, The Canadian
Press reported.

On
the exterior, a “cowtainer” looks like an ordinary intermodal freight
container.

But
inside, it’s luxury on the hoof. Each “cowtainer” can carry up to
23 cattle comfortably, with hay lofts, ventilation and even small
barns with windows.

The
Canada-Mexico connection isn’t the only place the special containers
have been used. The Associated Press reported recently that
“cowtainers” supplied by Jewett’s company, Ocean Livestock, were
used for the first shipment of American cattle to Cuba in decades.